by Jada Tarrant
CHAPTER 9
MARCH 10TH, 2013
JOLIET, IL
In the kitchen, mom was marking the calendar with important dates for the month. Once she was done I looked over to it, my birthday was highlighted and starred 16th birthday. I sighed, because two weeks below that I'd start Driver's Ed. For some odd reason, I had a feeling my dad really wants me to go away. That would be the first step, and the others would involve a job I don't even have yet.
Drew had opened up earlier in the month. He told me “whatever command you have I shall follow.” His obedience is one thing, but how he could tell what I wanted scared me.
“Where to now?” he asked as he kissed my neck. I groaned, not sure of what I wanted him to do. The thought slipped my mind, and all I could think about was his bed. That's where we were anyway. His lips perked up with a smile as he was planning something. “I can call Ashley and she'll cover for you. Your dad doesn't know you're here.” It sounded tempting, but I knew it was wrong. His skin grazed against mine, reminding me of what I could do. I nodded without thinking, so he got up to make the arrangements. My eyes scanned his physique up and down. One night won't hurt. Will it?
Then he returned as he sat on top of me. “Whatever you want to do,” he whispered as he slid his tongue into my mouth. A strong craving overwhelmed me that moment, bringing him down on top of me on the bed. It seemed to make him happy that he was driving me crazy, but I had to draw the line when he was about to drop his boxers. “Not now,” I whispered, kissing him. I just curled up next to him, feeling the heat from his body. All of it felt unreal, and he laughed. “Whenever you're ready,” he said and I fell asleep with him cradling me in his arms. A warm and fuzzy feeling enveloped me as I slept.
After my birthday, I didn't feel any different like my dad said. Things still felt unresolved in school, and everyone's eyes spun around me as I moved. Human.Everyone became confused since the fight broke out, but it didn't change a thing I did. On the wrestling team we were getting close to the quarterfinals. Then dance class was different, as I was able to put my personal spin on things. I had become the leader of the group, and my adrenaline was pumping.
Dance class gone as planned as a few students followed my moves. I was jumping around and twirling until my muscles ached from perfecting the movements. The guy I was working with was also tuckered out as I called a time out.
“I think we're done for today,” I say as the guy smiled. “Yeah, that sounds good,” he said as he took a seat. “I'm Jared by the way, nice to meet you.”
Before I knew it he was close to me as I felt his breath on my face. “Come on,” I said as I pushed him away slightly. “All right I'll stop,” he said, putting on a comical smile. A little snort came out of my mouth before I could stop it. “See, that's my weirdo memento. Only a bad guy around my friends.” Then his face hardened a bit, but there was still some playfulness hiding in his expression. “See you later.” Then he left to his car, while I went to board the bus.
It looked like I was one of the first few on, but someone's smile protruded from underneath the hat he wore to hide his face. Drew. He truly sucked at playing the hiding game, and I knew that's what the smile was for.
“Drew,” I whispered as I playfully pushed him further into the seat making more room for myself. There seemed to be a mixture of emotions all over his face, but all seemed well as he made a smile. “Really?” he said as he pecked my lip. “Getting frisky?” He must have picked up on the vibe I had in music class as he raised a brow. “Who's the lucky guy?” Then he kissed my ear, continuing to my neck and so forth. Drew wasn't going to stop until I answered.
“Jared,” I said, meeting his eyes. “Not interested in him though.” That was at least half the truth anyway, but at the same time I wanted to know the guy more. My own curiosity seemed to be the death of me so I wouldn't go much further with that.
Drew stilled himself as he became silent as a student was boarding the bus. Her eyes flashed at me when she looked across the aisles. A dark grin overtook her face as she settled down in front of us, and turned around to meet us. “Hey Drew,” she said and smiled at me, noticing his arm around my waist.
“Hey Marcie. This is Jada,” Drew said, opening up his palm to introduce me. Her smile made me shiver. “I know. But nice to meet you,” she said and blinked, thinking of something. “I'm Marcie Flasker, the leader of the witch pack.” Well, at least she was formally nice. I noticed she was laughing silently at my thoughts, even though Drew didn't seem to notice. His focus was between his finger probing at my shirt and gazing at the bus driver. He seemed restless to get going, until I poked him in the armpit. As his response, he formed the word 'ouch' with his mouth. It was one of his nerve spots that made me laugh when I saw the funny expressions on his face. But right now it just seemed to be a mixture of exhaustion and disgust. All I could infer was that it had to do with the witch. And I had no plans of being nosy again, especially with the risk of getting hurt. There just seemed to be so much trying to knock me down, but I've been holding up pretty well so far lately though.
Both of us departed ways when I headed toward my door. It wouldn't budge at all, no matter how hard I shook the handle. Taking in a sigh, I took out my keys to unlock the door while I was leaning on it. Squeak! The door opened up suddenly as I whacked the floor beneath me. So I looked up to see that nobody seemed to be home. But I had a weird feeling take over me, as if someone was watching me.
Then something happened as I opened my bedroom door. Some stranger was sitting on my bed. His eyes darted up at me as he smiled in devious thought. “Hello,” he said as he got up. Two men appeared from behind my door and grabbed my arms as I kicked my legs up at him. The strange then hovered over me as his breath was pungent with alcohol. “Gage isn't allowed to have you yet.”
“Who are you?” I asked and they all broke out in laughter. “You're worst nightmare,” the man said and covered my mouth. The others were beginning to chant something. A spell? I could feel all my strength dwindling away with the words as the room began to spin. A gasp escaped my lips as the men let me fall into his arms. An evil smirk was on his face as he pressed his lips against mine. Darkness swallowed me in moments after, taking me into a shuddering sleep.
-
~Drew~
Ba-dub! Ba-dub! His heart slammed itself in his chest, bringing him to sit up. With one hand over his chest, he peeled away the blinds to see. Police were all around Jada's house and it made him worry. One foot out the door and he saw Jada hoisted onto a stretcher, unconscious.
Running to the scene, he tapped on Mr. Terrent's shoulder. He flinched, but turned around to see it was him. “It wasn't you. I already know,” Mr. Terrent said with his head hung low. “Some death agents came to visit while I was gone and got to her.”
Then Terrent guided him into the house, taking Drew to Jada's room. Clearly there was nothing here, at least to the human eye. But it looked like they left something behind as Drew slid the knife out from behind the pillowcase. Mr. Terrent tensed up at the sight of it. “RAD,” Drew said blankly, putting the knife down. He never thought he'd see those initials again.
“Well?” Mr. Terrent asked, arms folded. “What do you think they did?” The Nephilim's panic only made it harder for him to think.
“They wouldn't kill her. I'm sure,” Drew said, stroking the back of his head. The veins in his neck popped out a little stressing over it. A thought suddenly crossed his mind, and it wasn't a good one. “The legion must be trying to find her, and Gage must have wanted RAD to bring her back.” He was pretty sure that was what happened, but not 100% certain.
The silence was convincing enough to the Nephilim that the subject made Drew uncomfortable. “So what are you going to do?” he asked. Drew wasn't quite ready for that question.
“I'll need visitation with your daughter. I might be able to snap her out of it,” Drew started, but fell silent. Something didn't feel right about it, since he could usually see things before they
happened. It was too shadowy, which meant one thing; they had to shut off her communication to the world and deleted the memory of it. That would be the only reason Drew wouldn't see it.
The Nephilim nodded and brusquely smiled. “Thank you,” he said, but Drew caught his wrist before he could move another inch. “Just because Janette's out of town doesn't mean you can screw around behind her back,” Drew said. Blinking, the Nephilim felt as if he took a slap to the face. How do you know? Drew's jaw then twitched. “I do have people that watch you.” He was referring to the angels the Nephilim had befriended lately.
Angrily, the Nephilim stormed out of the room. A deranged smile formed on Drew's face. He didn't want Janette upset or Jada hurt. But he looked down at the floor, taking in a deep sigh. Hopefully Jada wasn't roughed up too badly.
In the hospital, she was unconscious. Drew pressed his fingers against her forehead, feeling the venom from the spell making his hand numb. He shook his hand violently to shake the feeling. It was worse than he thought. She'd be in a coma for years if he didn't know the remedy. The spell was a paralysis spell that'd affect dragons making them go into a comatose state, allowing their powers to be taken. RAD just wanted her powers to overtake this world, and Drew wasn't going to let that happen.
“It's going to take me a few weeks to gather supplies,” Drew said, kissing her forehead. “But I promise you'll be fine. I love you.” Then he disappeared from the room to hunt for the herbs. If he didn't hurry, she'll be forever in their control...
SECTION 2
~INTERLUDE~
The Truth Is Nothing But A Lost Memory
Getting up, I shook my head violently to rid of the buzzing noises in my head. Gazing around, the street looked to be empty. How did I get here? Am I even alive? I pinched myself and couldn't feel it. Nope, I'm probably dead. My mind must be playing tricks on me.
As I roamed the streets, a small group of people emerged from a club. Some guy was struggling as I realized who it was. Drew. Is he allowing me to see into his past? It felt like the only way.
“Hold him there,” the leader commanded as they stretched him out, lifting his shirt enough to reveal belly. The leader approached him with a knife and what looked like to be a stamping. My mouth dropped open in a worrisome cry. “Drew!” I yelled and his ears perked up, but the others seemed unfazed.
“If you want the drug you'll have to be branded,” one member said, watching Drew scowl. Branded, what does that mean? The leader had a devilish grin on his face as he pressed the hot metal into Drew's skin. In response, Drew let out a blood curdling scream. The others laughed as they dropped him, looming over his body as Drew grabbed for the ground. From the looks of it, it seemed like he was having a hard time breathing. But he closed his eyes and heard him say a silent prayer. 'Got to work through this,' his thoughts pressed. Then he rose to his knees as he stopped there. What was he doing?
“You work for me,” the commander said, pushing the bag into Drew's hand. “That stuff isn't cheap.” He held his head low, but managed to keep an obedient look. “I understand,” Drew said automatically. A question lurked behind his eyes. “Who are you, if you mind me asking?”
Everyone broke out into a low cruel laughter, and the leader had him by the throat.
“We're members of the Dark Court. And members of the assassin's group,” the leader said, turning about. He wanted to make sure no one was listening. “And we could use your skill, but you need to learn to kill.”
The whole scenery became blurry and I was suckered into another reality. My hands were tied behind my back and I was straddled to a chair. Flailing about, I whacked my arms against the back of the chair, and all it did was rattle. Click! Then I snapped my head up, noticing the lights were on. Across the room, the stranger that I saw before was staring.
“You're so vulnerable in your sleep. You know that?” he chuckled, reaching to touch my face. I flinched upon contact as he pulled his hand away. “Don't worry, you're safe from me for now.” What did he mean by that?
The man shook his head, laughing at me. His eyes had turned to a violent purple and my heart shuddered as he wrestled to get his t-shirt off. There was a huge line of scars on the side of his abdomen.
“Let's settle this first. I'm not human, and neither are you no matter what you think. Your father asked me to bring you to him,” he said conspicuously. “But he doesn't understand things aren't that simple at all.” The tone of his voice became rigid with hate. “You don't belong here, yet the impact of you here is bringing a marvelous change. One that I like.”
He rose out of his chair and circled around me with his hand caressing my face. My skin went numb and he pressed his lips against mine. “We'll have our moment of union soon. I'm sure of it.” Then his eyes flickered to the door and back to me. “You'll be waking up soon.” As he said that a wave of nausea hit me, dragging me away. What did I just witness?
CHAPTER 10
JULY 19TH, 2013
WHEELERSBURG, OHIO
As I shifted my weight between the sheets my leg hung over the bed making it creak. Startled by the noise, I woke up as I held a hand to my chest. The room wasn't familiar, and it wasn't a hospital. I'm definitely sure of that.
Taking in a breath, I got off the bed onto my feet to explore the place. It was a big house as I saw many long glass windows in the hallways. The light was nearly blinding as I shielded my eyes to walk through them.
Then I heard a clink and snapped my head around to follow the sound. The noise seemed to be coming from what seemed to be a garage, and once I opened the door someone jumped. His gaze locked with mine.
“Hello,” he said, watching me in a worriedly fashion. “Are you feeling okay?” I shook my head as I was confused to who he was. “Where am I?” I asked and he frowned. “Wheelersburg Ohio babe,” he said and scratched his head. “Your dad sent ya over here.” Oh,now that made sense.
“Thanks,” I said as I pushed the door open to reenter the house. Once I turned around he was right behind as it nearly scared me. “I didn't introduce myself,” he said as he coughed to clear his throat. “I'm Nathan.” So I nodded off and shook his hand, gliding past him to get to the bedroom. But he managed to get in the way.
“So school registration is tomorrow. Do you want to choose your classes?” he asked. Then that reminded me. How long was I out? “What's today?” I asked and he froze. “July 29th,” he said and crossed his arms. I back away, nearly freaked out. Was I really asleep since April? There was no way that could be. It didn't feel like it was that long.
Nathan seemed to sense my distress as he hugged me. The instant I felt safe I began to cry as I slipped to my knees.
“It's okay,” Nathan said, stroking my hair. He then crouched down as he looked at me. I don't know why this guy is trying because I don't even know him. But before I could protest he propped me back onto my feet. We both exchanged cold stares with each other.
“Get ready. Well, dressed. We're going somewhere,” Nathan said as he walked off into another room. I blinked, lost. What were we going to do?
Rushing back to the bedroom, I went through the clothes in the boxes. They were all vintage designed jackets and it made me realize he must be rich. So I threw on the Harley Davidson jacket and the denim jeans over the plain t-shirt I wore. That would be presentable enough, I think.
Back in the main room, Nathan looked me over. Something must not have looked right. “Brush your hair,” he said as I was walking away. “In the bathroom, to your right.” Stumbling to my right, I went to brush my hair. This place was going to take a while to figure out.
Then I came back out lifting my arms and spun around in a circle. He nodded as he pushed me to move forward in front of him. There was a 97' GMC Sierra and an 09' Corvette in the driveway.
As I looked around a bit more, Nathan slipped a set of keys into my pocket. It stirred me to pull them out just to look at them. I'm hoping it's not for the Corvette.
“The truck's yours,” he said and
flung a debit card out of his hand into mine. “Gas money for the month. There's five hundred on it. If you're an expensive little princess you might want a job.” The sarcasm stung as I squinted a bit. “I'm pretty sure you'll have no problems.” So I nodded, since he was being way nicer than I thought he'd be.
On the dashboard of the truck, I slipped the debit card into the packet on top of the dash. Curious, I pulled the paper out of the packet. Registration was today, not tomorrow. Crap.
“You lied,” I said and glared at him. He couldn't help but laugh. “Had to find some reason to get you out of the house,” he said with a grin. “There's directions next to you in the seat.” Looking over to my right there was a paper. It was a twenty minute drive. “See you later.”
Then I barreled out of the driveway and all I could hear was the loud mouthed engine. He must have put some horsepower into this truck, because when I pressed the gas pedal a little it flew. Hesitating, I found my control on the vehicle as I entered the parking lot. Too many people were staring, and damn a lot of them were here.
Once I cut the engine off, I heard someone whistling outside my door. I ducked, not wanting to be messed around with. “Lost,” the athlete said, pressing himself against the door. The sound nearly made me scream. “No,” I managed to say as I swung the door open to make him move. Then I locked it and he began to laugh. “No one's going to steal that junker,” he said and smiled. His sarcasm only made me more furious as I walked away.
At the registration table I picked up my ID and a course sheet. I was about to mark off wrestling as an activity, but someone had whacked the pen out of my hand. I looked up, giving him the most uncomfortable glare I knew. The guy perked up a smile.
“It's a men's only sport here, and can I see your transcript?” he asked, holding out his hand. Forking it over, he slipped the sheet away from me. What the heck?
“Warning one,” he said as I followed him through the stations. “The athletes are antsy because of football season, so they're looking for some virgins to bone. If you want to stay off their radar you'll have to make yourself unappealing.” Then he stopped as he got a good look at me. “Halfway there.” I was nearly pissed at him as I folded my arms, following him the rest of the way.
